Crimes of Passion
by Dark Angel Dragon
Summary: G1 AU. A little story about a relationship between Hot Rod and my OC femme Dark Angel. Stand alone story. Some romance, emotion, fighting and obviously G1ness!
1. Chapter 1

*

Now.

Cliffjumper and Jazz were looking over the scene below. Cliffjumper was already here. And after he had finished his other duties, Jazz had come down to join his friend for company.

There were orders from Prowl to ask several Autobots in for routine training and Dark Angel had inadvertently become one of them.

Jazz and Cliffjumper were glad they had both decided not to pit her against anyone or spar themselves. She had not been herself lately and she had been rather aggravated for a fair while, judging by the holographic massacre that was happening below.

Jazz knew that her often rocky friendship with Hot Rod sometimes cooled her down but he had been on assignment back home for the last Earth year or so and would be returning back to Autobot City today. He hadn't been around to cool her engines like he usually did, and they still had to contend with this bad tempered Autobot femme.

Jazz thought it was rather amusing that as much as they were both hot heads, they were also a veritable calm on each other, a perfect couple. Something he and his comrades had found out a while back, that there was something more than just being friends between the two of them, something they both denied between themselves.

But just as it had suddenly started, it ended as quickly. He was there for part of it that day when things had gone south between them.

"She really needs to relax." Commented Cliffjumper.

"Not much we can do li'l buddy. No one can get close enough to get her calmed down since Hot Rod went on that mission. Even Hot Rod was tryin' ta avoid her before he left but got beat up instead, and now she's feelin' downright slagged prob'ly coz o'tha fight they had. We've tried ta talk t'her but she don' let anyone close to her physically but the twins an' her femme friends an' maybe ol' Ratch' too, but even they haven't been 'round lately. Optimus thought that assignin' her to some office work would help, but it's like havin' Ratchet workin' in the main office doin tha paperwork!"

Jazz and Cliffjumper continue to look on into the training area below observing the holographic sequences being played out. Ever since she had started the combat training sequences, she'd been tearing everything up with a ruthless aggression uncommon to Autobot servers. They just let her be on her own in the training room here at Autobot City. They were somewhat surprised at how much she was cutting loose, destroying everything in sight. Acting more like a war crazy Decepticon than an Autobot and that blatant display of power and destruction really bothered them. They weren't really aware how much power she really had as she hid it most of the time.

"I think we should get Ratchet." Comments Cliffjumper. "She'll listen to him."

"Yeah." Replies Jazz, whereas he radios the medic to come and chat with them.

In the training area Dark Angel could feel the essence of what Jazz and Cliffjumper were talking about up above. She had gotten better with her psionics lately and had flat out refused to be trained by anyone. Preferring to train herself and go her own way. But that wasn't what was bothering her. It was Hot Rod. Something he had done about a year ago before he left to go on assignment was still bothering her, and she knew he would be returning today.

In the last few years though, she had gotten better at reading the emotions of others, much better than the occasional glimmer of thought or emotional instinct of years gone past. Her kinetics had changed too, gotten stronger, made her physically stronger also.

She could still create her shadow walks through subspace, but could do other things with that particular skill too, things she never told anyone about, not even her closest friends.

She let her vents cool her body down enough to finally get her wits back after her vicious rampage and destruction of the training room. Then she took off back to her quarters while Jazz and Cliffjumper were busy with the comms unit contacting Ratchet, before they could object and left them with the mess.

*

A year ago.

It was about a week before Hot Rod would leave for his assignment on Cybertron.

On this occasion, Dark Angel is drowning her sorrows in some concentrated high grade energon she got on the way home. But it didn't help, she never got drunk, no matter how much energon she drank. Her system was equipped to handle massive amounts of energy input and process it very quickly, making her able to consume energon in large copious quantities. So by the time she'd finished one glass, her system had already digested the energon and processed it, allowing her to drink one glass after another.

She was about to open the last pack of canisters she had and consume it when she heard someone at the door. She didn't get up straight away to answer the door, as the concentrated energon made her slightly overtired like a fed predator after a big meal.

But inadvertently Hot Rod let himself in. She remembered he had an access key to her apartment, so she sat down and continued to drink her energon concentrate.

"You know that stuff will short circuit your brains, beautiful!" Jokes Hot Rod.

She raises a brow and asks in a lurid manner, "You want one?" she picks one up and holds it out to him. He grabs it but then puts it aside and pulls her close instead, flirting with her.

"One what exactly?" he queries, "Personally I think you've had enough to drink."

"I'll decide I've had enough when I'm good and ready to decide..." she suddenly loses her footing and stumbles, taking Hot Rod with her as they crash on top of each other onto the floor with her on top.

"Not that I don't mind a femme being on top of me but I'd say that's a sure indication you've had _waaaay_ too much, even if you can't get drunk!" He jokes.

"Just shut up will you!" She says and moves over to get off him.

When free of her encumbering weight he comments, "Oh I love it when you're bossy!" A comment that makes her grin.

She watches him get up and then he turns around to help her up off of the floor. "Damn you're heavy! Though I've never tried to pick you up before! You really need to lose some weight!" He makes constant jokes while he tries again and again to get her onto her recharge bed.

She was playing with him, being a dead weight on purpose. "Flattery will get you nowhere mech!" She muses at his attempts to get her up. In the end she gets herself up off the floor and onto her bed and lays down, sprawled out, and pats a spot beside her.

He instead takes a chair beside the bed and sits down. "You realise femme that by keeping me here against my will," He muses, "You're cutting into my valuable night life."

"What? You came to see me as I recall!?" She retorts jovially.

"Yeah I did but still…" He leans back on the chair and puts his hands behind his head.

She is a tad annoyed at how blasé he is with his comments. For the last few years they had been more than just friendly with each other, enjoying each other's close company while each of them went about their normal lives. But she had become attached to him, but not him to her as far as she knew and that's what annoyed her, she had feelings for him beyond just being friends, and she didn't want to ruin it by telling him how she really felt.

She was in a constant state of emotional confusion nowadays and didn't know what to do. She rolls over and faces herself away from him so he doesn't see her face.

"So what's bothering you my 'Angel?" He knew she could get like this at times when something was bothering her and he wanted to know what was wrong this time. _'This one is so damn hard to figure out at times, but then again all femmes are generally like that.'_ He thought.

He gets up and moves over to the bed and puts a caring hand on her side as she is faced away from him. "Is it because the twins are outta town on a mission and you can't play rough with them or…is it because you just need some relief of the mech persuasion? Come on we're best friends D', we can tell each other anything! Can't we?"

He'd struck a sensitive circuit that she was not willing to contend with and snapped at him. Up until now she'd never once shared her spark with anyone She had interfaced with others but never opened herself up to them completely. She had one little ounce of a romantic side in her that wanted to do that with him, but, as much as he flirted with her he never took any real interest in her romantically. And she held back from getting herself hurt and going beyond being just friends with him as she knew of his reputation with other femmes.

Hot Rod knew she had never shared her spark with someone, a secret they had confided in each other. He figured it was the reason why she was so uptight at times and emotionally wound up. But it was her friendly honest company he valued, everyone did. All the other femmes would just swoon all over him because of his charming confident demeanour and she did no such thing. And while many others spurned his company due to his devil may care nature and lifestyle, she was always there to greet him when he returned from whatever adventure he had gone on where others wouldn't even bother to talk to him. She was always around, always willing to talk to him and keep him company if he wanted it, whenever he wanted it.

He did often joke about the fact she hardly ever went out with, spending most of her time either working, researching or training, he supposed.

But it had gone beyond a joke now and she couldn't hold back anymore, it had finally gotten to her. "It's all a joke to you isn't it! All this time we've been friends and you've never once even noticed a damn thing have you?" She gets up off the recharge bed and storms off to her lounge.

She was right, he didn't get it, but he followed after her as he was concerned about her as a friend. He wanders after her and finds her leaning against the wall looking out her viewing screen at the City outside.

He comes around to face her and says "What was that outburst about?" He sees the look of emotional anguish on her face and reaches out to her, only to have her slap his arm away from her.

She then wanders off somewhere else to get away from him. "Aww c'mon D', it's not like you to run away from anything, what is it?" He had to admit that he was concerned now. She was never sulky and openly emotional like this, at least not around him as far as he knew.

She turns and faces him and starts yelling, "You just don't get it do you, you over pompous playboy jerk. You go out there chasing some dream or some flimsy brained femme or go running off on some adventure without thinking about what you've got right in front of you. This is about what you really need, not about what you think you want!"

She storms off into her room and lies down on her recharge bed burying her faceplate in the head cushion feeling like she's about to excrete fluids from her optics like humans do when they cry.

That's when he finally gets it. It came to him like a slap in the face.

Someone who had been a loving friend to him all this time had fallen in love with him. He'd come across this with one or two femmes in the past he had not been attached to, but they had been attached to him. He felt like a real jerk for not noticing it in her as she hid it so well, but he figured she couldn't hold it in anymore.

After thinking for a little bit, he realised that he wasn't ready to face the fact that he may feel the same way about her.

"Okay I admit it; I'm a first class mechrat for not being able to see what's right in front of me. Are you happy now?" She always valued his nonchalant honesty, and he was hoping it would make her laugh like it often did, but not this time. He follows her over to her recharge birth and sits down next to her. He reaches out for her face and takes her chin and they look at each other. "I'm not that stupid you know, I should've known something like this might happen. It has happened to me before."

"Hmph...yes." she says very quietly and meekly, trying to hide her face in her cushion and using it to absorb the fluids leaking from the corners of her optics. She knew about those times, as he had a habit of telling her details about his exploits with the femmes, even if she didn't want to hear about them.

"This is about you and me isn't it?"

"Mmmhm." Was her muffled reply.

"How long?" he asks, "How long have you had feelings for me then?" His curiosity getting the better of him. She feels it won't get her anywhere revealing the truth. "Well?" he asks impatiently.

She starts crying again into her pillow, "Pretty much since day one, since we first met."

"And you didn't tell me?" he is very surprised, _'Damn, she hid it very well!'_ "Why? I thought we could tell each other anything?"

She is very upset now having had to hold back her real feelings for so long and bare them to the object of her affection; it was a very raw experience for her. "At the time I wasn't interested in being with anyone. And I didn't know much about you. I would've said something eventually, but then I heard about your reputation as a playbot to the femmes back on Cybertron. It scared me Hot Rod, scared me that if I took a chance, you wouldn't even bother with me. I've seen some of the femmes you've had your way with and I don't want to be another forgotten niche on your hip casing, considering how you treat them afterwards. I just held back for my own safety. I didn't want to get hurt. Being just friends was safer for me than anything else on offer." She stopped.

"And yet you stuck around as a friend..." He just hugs her and she lets him.

He was going to say more but then shut off his vocaliser. He couldn't say he wasn't surprised that this had happened to him again, but not like this, she'd been able to get closer to him than anyone has ever gotten to before, been able to reach that isolated wild freedom loving part of him that no one can get to.

She's been better than just an ordinary friend to him, a best mate, and a true friend. He suddenly saw all her pain at once and realised what she had done for him all those times and what a jerk he'd been, knowing that she deserved better from him from now on. All those times he'd told her every detail of all his amorous exploits with other femmes and not realising it was hurting her, doing this to her. Now he understood why she often spent time alone away from others, it was the isolation that gave her comfort, protected her from being hurt, the aloof air with others, just as it had done with him, and why she was oft cranky towards him, picking fights.

"You know you're right, I don't usually go for your type!" He joked. This obnoxious comment got a swift slap on the face plate from her and knocked him off the bed and onto the floor. She gets up from the bed and picks him up with one hand and presses him up against the wall, "But you know what? It's your loyalty and friendship I value the most." Now he was just deliberately picking a fight with her.

This does soften her outlook somewhat and she lets him down.

"This kind of changes things between us now doesn't it?" He pauses for a moment to think more on it then continues, "But I really don't see why it has to change?"

"And why not may I ask?" As she gruffly crosses her arms and answers back.

"Well we can always have a little fun on the side can't we? Maybe do some other stuff too, still be friends and all that, no hassles, no commitments and whatever." He says slyly.

"Damn it Hot Rod!" She yells at him, "You jerk, I've got more integrity than that. Think with your head and not with your spark for once. I know you're hung up on keeping your freedom, but you're going to have to grow up someday aren't you? I'm not going to share myself with anyone that comes along like your femmes do alright, I've had enough. I'm not going to be another pretty toy you can play with as you see fit. Just because we've been friends this long, doesn't mean you'll get what you want out of me. Now you understand why I didn't want to tell you how I felt. Well do you?" She crosses her arms and glares at him angrily.

He starts laughing and she lifts her brows quizzically, "I love it when you're so expressive babe!" He gets up and leaves her to her apartment, grabbing the can of high grade energon on the bench on the way out, "I'll see you later 'Angel! Today was an interesting adventure into your psyche; perhaps we can do it again sometime sweetheart?" Ever trying to be a gentlemech, he bows and walks out, leaving a very angry femme behind.

_'Is that how its going to be if I give into his charms if I let him have his way, being used for his whims and then left alone to feel like I am now, confused and isolated and used?' _She sits and sighs about tonight's events and goes to her recharge bed. She is still upset and feels she could cry a river of optical fluids.

What she didn't know was that Hot Rod was harbouring the same feelings for her but had made jokes about their conversation. He had left her apartment quickly because he couldn't face what he was feeling as he was still just too afraid to tell her or do anything about it. But he did have an idea he'd play out later.

*


	2. Chapter 2

*

Back in his apartment Hot Rod was thinking to himself. He was rather disturbed by his friend's revelations, about her real feelings for him. It had disturbed him that much he had to get out of there. Making a stupid joke and then getting out the first chance he could.

But she was right. He hated it when she was right. It meant he was being a coward and running away from his emotions yet again. She had been there for him through everything lately, especially since they had first met.

He was very confused now. His guilt over his personal stupidity was eating away at him. But who was he kidding. The whole time he professed his undying love for his own freedom, the Autobot cause and what was it, that word the humans used, 'bachelorhood', he and his bachelor ways, he was romancing and getting his way with one femme or another for one thing or something else. Romancing all the pretty femmes who fell for his charms and having his way with them. All the while he had also told Dark Angel about all his exploits the day after.

But now, the guilt he felt, he'd never do that to her ever again.

He had to admit, that wasn't what he was ultimately after. He had spent most of his young life alone and on the run from Decepticons, being a charming rebel and eventually joining the Autobots to give his life meaning. The acts of charming all these femmes were detrimental to him and he craved something more solid than the flimsiness they provided, something he had found in Dark Angel, but just hadn't seen it for the truth it was, until now. She had a habit of shining light on things either directly or indirectly.

He was loathe to admit it, but he knew that things really had changed between them now, even though he'd joked about it. He had never admitted to anyone that he had a secret passion for her beyond them being just friends; he'd even had dreams about her once when he had consumed too much energon, something that had disturbed him greatly at the time as he was unsure of his feelings and had tried to laugh it off silently without telling anyone.

It had made him feel as if he was growing up, getting older, being more mature and he didn't want that. She made him feel like she was the type of femme he could settle down with, and it scared the spark out of him. He wanted to keep his freedom above anything and couldn't decide what he was supposed to do with all this new information.

He never said anything to her because he felt she wasn't his type. She was a slight shorter than he was and very bulky, as well as heavy and strong, not at all like the hot looking slim athletic racer types he went after. Most to all of them had barely any intelligence to speak of, but 'Angel did, which was what impressed him the most. She could keep up with him both physically and intellectually.

She wasn't the best looking femme he'd ever seen but she was his closest and most loyal friend and he couldn't ditch her now even though this had happened. But in a few days he'd be going on assignment back to his original home of Cybertron for about a year.

He had been presented with a future for himself, something he had ultimately wished for but had ignored due to his freedom loving boyish nature.

He had two choices ahead of him now and he didn't know which one to choose.

'_Why can't I have both?'_ he asks himself.

He thought about it for hours until he came to the conclusion that he could manage having both. So he set his plan in his mind for later when he had the chance to.

Then he finally was able to fall into his recharge cycle even though it was almost dawn.

*

Now.

Hot Rod, having just returned from a daunting year long assignment undercover on Cybertron was being cleared by Ratchet in Autobot City when the medic had received a call from Jazz and Cliffjumper about Dark Angel.

He had unintentionally overheard the entire conversation.

When Ratchet had gotten off the comms he was in a right mood and swore for several minutes before coming and attending to him again. He hadn't known that the reason for Ratchet's mood was because he had seen the devastation that Dark Angel had served the training room on vid screens relayed by Jazz.

But now she had taken off somewhere before she could be found.

*

In the training room.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were on their way to their allotted training for the time they had been given and walk in to see all the damage with their guests not too far behind them.

"What in the slag happened here?" Asks Sunstreaker.

"Yeah it looks like our quarters after Sunny has had a tantrum!" Jokes Sideswipe, which got him a whack from his twin.

Cliffjumper not one for being a fan of Dark Angel, snidely remarks, "Hot Rod's girl had a temper tantrum and wrecked the place, and then she went and left us with the clean up!"

Hot Rod and Ratchet had joined them not long after that and had caught some of the conversation.

'_She's not my girl, at least not anymore.'_ Hot Rod thinks. He remembers the big fight they had the morning before he left. A year ago. They'd both openly confessed their feelings for each other the night before and then it had gone sour in the morning when he did something stupid that made Angel turn on him, possibly for good. He still felt somewhat guilty about that particular incident. Though everyone in Autobot City knew about it now and a fair few of his Autobot comrades thought very little of him for it.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sunstreaker rolls back his optics, "Well what are we going to do know?" He pouts, "My innate perfection doesn't come without practice you know."

"Put a lid on it Sunstreaker," It was Ratchet. His concern for his friend had brought him here on Jazz's request when he was able to. But he was more worried about Dark Angel and her welfare. He knew what was wrong with her. He was one of the very few that did. He wasn't inclined to take any crap from anyone, least of all Optimus, but sometimes 'Angel just downright scared him as she wasn't scared of him and his grouchiness at all. "The condition of this training room is unimportant; I'll get Hoist, Wheeljack and Grapple down here to help with repairs. In the mean time I'm going off to find Dark Angel," He grabs Hot Rod by the scruff of his neck guard, "And _you_ are coming with me to help me fix what's wrong with her, this has gone on long enough." He says adamantly to the surprised mech.

This gets some quizzical looks from the others present also.

"Me?" Hot Rod scoffs, "Why me?"

Sunstreaker scoffs at Ratchet, "If a couple of heavy hitters like us can't help her, then what makes you think that wimp can?" This got a glare from Hot Rod.

"Just go and talk to her block head, you'll find out why." Ratchet says to Hot Rod quietly. _'If he'd bothered to try and answer her calls to him while he was on Cybertron we wouldn't have this situation right now,' _He thought.

Sideswipe quietly whistles to himself, "Geez she must've been in one slagging mood to do all this!" He picks up a few pieces of metal and looks at it, "This stuff isn't cheap and the metal…" He taps his fingers on the material, "Isn't exactly soft?" He turns to his brother and says rather dirtily, "Maybe Hot Head should go and give her some relief!" He looks around the room again and then continues, "Coz' it sure looks like she needs it!" Sunstreaker slaps his brother's shoulder for making a stupid remark about Dark Angel that was uncalled for and has Sideswipe rubbing his shoulder armour from the impact. Sideswipe had forgotten that Sunstreaker actually liked the femme and freely stodd up for her whenever the situation demanded it.

Hot Rod had already left on Ratchet's request to find his former friend and leaves the others to look over the leftover damage in the training room. Ratchet followed him for quite some time to make sure he went right there to her apartment first, where she usually hung out and tehen left him there when they arrived, returning to the medical bay to finish off his own work.

Hot Rod had heard Sideswipe's joke on the way out, and wasn't impressed, _'Even if it was a joke?'_ he thought. He and Dark Angel had been very close friends for ages, and at times more so. But they had done something together before he'd left a year ago. And hadn't seen nor talked to each other since he had left that day.

He thought more about all the good times they'd had together since they'd first met. He wasn't one to admit it freely, but she was one person, albeit a femme who had managed to get under his chassis and make him feel more mature and responsible at heart, even if he didn't ordinarily show it. She had always been his steady rock in the past as he had been for her, till they had their fist fight right before he left for Cybertron. He still felt guilty about what he had done that day, real guilty.

Sure they'd teased each other. He'd teased her considerably about not going out and fraternising much, because he'd quite often keep her attention to himself and they'd had their fair share of mucking around as best friends do. Both of them had taken their close friendship seriously and there were very few barriers between them. But he thinks that the lack of him seeing what was right in front of them both, was what led to their nasty fight.

When the next morning came, he'd stupidly bragged about his conquest of her, and she'd found out about it and gave him the aft kicking of his life. The reason he did what he did was because he found out information about his mission. He'd had to sever any emotional ties he had just in case he didn't make it back, or if the Decep's captured him, not one of his better ideas.

The night before then, they had consummated their feelings for each other, and he had been a real jerk to her the next day, treating her just like another one of his conquests. She had been so insulted and angry by what he had done, that she told him never to talk to her ever again as their friendship, that they had built over the last few years, was over and done with for good.

Their verbal blow-out was after everyone had found what they did that night. He shook his head as he walked, knowing that it was the commitment he had been scared of.

Both of them valued their freedom above anything else, and after what had he done, he ran, he ran scared because she was one femme who could offer him the freedom he could keep and the steadiness he needed, just like he had done for her. But he was still an immature coward and he hung his head for it.

He felt sorry for himself now, finally being able to admit that her bad temper over the last year that he always heard about since their fight was his fault. He had to face up to it now and confront her.

He had to admit that he valued her company because she had an innate capacity to warm up to not only him, but anyone, even one or two Decepticons she'd made friends with.

He had missed her this last year. His feelings hadn't gone away, and nor had he been with any other femmes as he was still guilt ridden for what he had said that morning.

She could stand up to him, never let him push her around or anyone else for that matter, but always let him do what he needed to do to keep his freedom, and let him come back to her whenever he wanted.

Another thing he loved about her was her fighting capability. Her method was passive but very aggressive at the same time, and he loved being able to spar one on one with a femme that wasn't afraid of him or of herself like some of his 'beautiful' toys were. And even though she lacked his fighting skill, she made up for it in strength, both on a physical and emotional level.

She was his rock and he had run from her like a coward. He didn't know what he was going to do or say to her when they met up again, or whether she'd even talk to him again.

He allowed himself a small smirk, she was as wild and free as the uncaged animals of the planet Earth he had come to call home, and he was stupid for ever abandoning her. _'Never again,'_ he thought to himself, _'I'm going to take her back whether she wants it or not and fix the mistake I made once and for all.'_

He stands outside her old apartment, the same one she had a year ago when he had left Autobot City on Earth and rings the buzzer, dreading the upcoming storm. He was hoping she would be here, as she had other places she often went to hide when she wanted to get away from people, places though he couldn't get to.

The look on her face was not one he was expecting when she opened the door. Nor was he expecting to be hugged tightly or let inside for a chat, but she did. She said nothing as she indicated to a couch where they could talk. Then they sat down to begin their reconciliation.

*


	3. Chapter 3

*

Dark Angel remembers the day right before she found out that Hot Rod was being sent on assignment.

That morning everything was as normal as it would be around the base.

She had been busily doing paperwork as she usually did, and then when she was done would hand the reports she had sorted through over to Prowl for processing.

As she sat in the main rec room of Autobot City she was joined by a couple of her favourite mechs for company. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. It had taken a while for them to admit it but they finally warmed up to her and kept her in their inner circle. They had adopted her as their 'little' sister, even though it had been discovered she was clearly older than they were and not related. If the truth be known, she wondered if it was really because of her extensive games and audio visual collection that kept them endeared to her. They often visited just for the sake of watching movies or TV shows at her apartment, or borrowed her video games and music.

But they also liked to bother her when she was trying to get work done, as she rarely used the desk she had been assigned to use next to Prowl's office for the work she got given.

"So what's up Dark'? You gonna hang with us t'night coz I heard from Jazz that he's havin' a party to celebrate hi an' Sound Track's upcoming bonding ceremony?" Asks Sideswipe.

It had been only a few years since their base of operations at the Ark had been moved permanently to Autobot City. After a battle that went bad with the Decepticons had resulted in the destruction of the majority of the Ark and also Teletraan One. Some more female Autobots had aslo been discovered and had joined the team on Earth. A few of the soldiers had become involved with them, including Jazz and some others.

It also happened to be October 31st and so Jazz had opted to let people decorate the new party room Optimus had let them build for such occaisions to give the rec room a permanent break. Dark Angel knew that there would be few hidden pranks if the twins had anything to do with decorating Jazz's apartment for the party.

"Let me guess, you want my company as an alibi if any pranks you two have set up at Jazz's party go wrong right?"

"You know us so well!" snickered Sideswipe. Sunstreaker just grinned.

She had to laugh. It always put her in a tough spot, working under Prowl, but also being friends with these two, "Well you two devils know the agreement, if I don't know what you've set up then I can claim ignorance, that way I'm not covering for you. Being that you two barely get caught anyway then it's all on you're shoulder plates ok!"

All they both did was grin cheekily as they always did and it amused her.

After the destruction of the Ark, it had taken a while for everyone to settle in Autobot City and get used to the new surroundings even with the construction still going on and also in between the Decepticon battles too.

She looked at both of them through her green visor which was down. She was in the middle of analysing all this data Prowl had given her before her shift finished. She raises her brow and retracts her visor. She puts down the datapad in her hand and puts her arms around the both of them in a strong vice like headlock, they having both pulled up a chair on either side of her. "Sorry guys but Prowl needs this work done and I'm the only one that can do it for now, so I'm going to have to get rid of you right now and get back to you later about the party ok. Oh and no 'borrowing' my stuff, I'm sure Jazz has more than enough stuff to keep us all entertained for the night!"

If it had been anyone else doing what Angel had just done the twins would've baulked and done harm to the mech, but to them 'Angel was exempt. Having helped them out of many tight spots over the years.

Having saved Sunstreaker's life on more than one occasion and also inadvertently covering for some of Sideswipe's more daring pranks, even the ones that backfired. She had become a buffer between them and the higher ups. She, having spent the last few Earth years bypassing the soldier work with the Autobots and becoming somewhat of a secretary to them, handling work loads to assist the others and to avoid being out on the battlefield and rivalling Prowl for being able to work almost non stop.

"Sorry to hear that." Comments Sunstreaker.

Dark Angel couldn't help but take out her cleaning cloth and wipe away a small grease mark Sunstreaker had on some wiring on his neck area. She smiles at him and comments, "And where would you be if you didn't have me to help you look good eh Sunny?"

He didn't like being fawned over like she did to him in front of the others but he just pursed his lip components and mumbled a quiet thanks. He knew not to start a verbal argument with her, not that he was afraid of her, she was more than capable of doing permanent damage to his bodywork and he didn't want the hassle of going in to see Ratchet to get it fixed. That and he would never hear the end of it from Sideswipe, as his twin would jeer him for getting beaten up by a femme and it rather annoyed him.

He had also become so accustomed to her spending some of her free time looking after him and his twin, especially when it came to cleaning their vehicle modes and getting hold of new parts for them, which he and Sideswipe had come to rely on it regularly as it was freely offered at ehr expense.

"You guys will have to get ready for the party on your own tonight. I think I'm still going to be doing all of this then. But I will drop by if I have the time, ok"

"Well it's a Halloween party, your kinda thing, pity you might not make it. But if you do come just come as you are, you're scary enough!" Says Sideswipe as he and his brother get up to leave.

Dark Angel gives him a deathly look and says, "If you weren't a friend Sides' you'd be a dead mech by now for saying that."

Sideswipe grins and continues speaking, "But we'll stop by your place before we leave for the party to see if you can make it, if not we'll save you a drink of high grade anyway."

"And you two make sure you clean yourselves up properly this time. At the last party you looked like slag when you came back. It took me days to get you both properly clean again." she mused back to them.

Sideswipe gives her a mock salute and says, "Sir, yes sir!" and then does a military turn around with his feet and leaves out the rec room door with Sunstreaker in tow, both laughing between themselves.

*

Later that day Dark Angel had dropped by Prowl's office to drop off her work and ran into Jazz and Optimus there.

"Hiya Jazz, still havin' your party tonight?"

"Yeah girl, ya comin'?" Says Jazz, "It's gonna be a blast!"

"Might, might not. Depends if Prowl and our illustrious leader let me have the night off for doing so much paperwork, a weeks worth in one day." She sighs.

"At this rate you'll do me out a job. And then I wouldn't know what to do with all my spare time!" Replies Prowl.

"An' that might be a good thing!" Jokes Jazz.

"Primus! Is that something amusing coming out of Prowl's vocaliser!" Dark Angel gives him a playful nudge in the shoulder plate. Prowl smiles back at her.

"I think we can do without you for one night. What do you think Optimus?" Prowl asks him.

He of course was engrossed in reading the reports Dark Angel had handed to him and hadn't been paying attention.

"Prime?" Jazz asked.

"Sorry what?" He answered. Dark Angel snickered.

"Ya think ya could let 'Angel here take tha night off f'my party seein' as how she's done all this for us." Said Jazz referring to the datapad of work he'd been handed.

"Sure, whatever you think is fine you two." He said, still obviously too engrossed in the data correlation to pay proper attention to what was being said.

"Well I'm gonna get out of here before he changes his mind. I'll see you later at the party Jazz, you two perhaps Prowl?"

"Not likely 'Angel, I have work to do and I've never been the partying type, especially when it's one of his parties." He thumbs to Jazz who gives him an innocent look.

'Angel gives Jazz a fancy handshake and says her goodbyes; "I'll try not to fall asleep and use the twins as cushions this time eh!" She mused.

Jazz can only smile and watches her leave, following after her not to much later but down the corridors in the opposite direction to his apartment to get items for the party ready.

*

Later 'Angel had just managed to get home when she was spotted by the twins.

"C'mon guys, I haven't even gotten in the door yet!" She whines.

"No excuse!" Muses Sunstreaker as he shoves her past the doorway and into the washbay. "Now hurry it up, we've got somewhere to be."

"Hey, get your mits off, I can do this myself!"

While she was in her wash bay in another room, the twins had busied themselves with looking for her audio visual collection. A likely reason for getting her out of the room, she thought.

They had noticed she had moved it and also noticed that the locks had gone.

She calls out from down the hall, "Don't even bother picking the locks this time boys, I've had my cases magnetically sealed."

"And why would you go and do a thing like that for?" asks Sunstreaker.

"Why do you think golden boy?" She walks out and caught Sideswipe red handed trying to pry open the seal on one of the cases.

"Gah! It lives!" Jokes Sunstreaker as he notices Dark Angel had most her struts off as all her armour was detatchable and she hadn't bothered to cover herself, just stood there dripping with water. She very rarely did cover herself in front of them, she wasn't bashful either. They had learnt to try and put up with it but weren't always successful in hiding their surprise when she caught them unawares like that.

Sideswipe notices too and gets caught offguard. She grabs Sideswipe by the side of his head case and pressies her fingers into a sensitive spot, making him squirm in pain, "Out! I'll be with you in a few minutes." She pushes the red twin out the door and then turns to the other one, "You too, or I grab something on you more painful that'll make you want to cry like a human."

Sunstreaker smirks for a moment, but then hurriedly leaves when 'Angel chases him out.

Two minutes later she walks out of her apartment clean, dry and re-armoured and follows both of them to Jazz's new partyhall, "Now, what kind of surprises we have in stall for us tonight I wonder."

All the twins do is look at each other and smile their devilish grins.

*

At the party.

Jazz it seemed had hired the twins to artistically decorate the place in a Halloween theme and had done him proud. She had already become a victim of two traps set up for the party goers and was now decorated in more streamers than she could poke a stick at. But she herself draped in them for the pure fun of it, amidst the constant jeers from the twins about being a walking streamer pile.

Brawn was already sulking in another corner as he had gotten the tar and feathers prank and cpouldn't get any of it off, but stayed only because Jazz had provided them all with some fine tasting high grade. A few others were also avoiding the twins and having their own fun as they had also fallen victim to their frivolous fun.

Several areas had also been decorated for fun and had scared the energon out of several mechs who had decided in their drunken states to venture into them alone.

When the twins had had enough fun watching people spring their traps and taking pictures for prosperity, they sat down with the others for drinks.

Dark Angel had already become frustrated at several points when the drunken mechs had gotten scared when passing her in the darker areas of the hall. Her armour was jet black and blended in with the party decor and they had mistaken her for part of the Halloween fun. The others however found this a source of amusement and didn't bother holding back in their comments.

"You just seem to have that kind of effect on mechs don't ya 'Angel!" Jokes Jazz.

"Guess that's why I'm still single!" She joked right back, taking it in her stride.

She had barely heard Jazz over the noise being made by Bluestreak in another corner of the lounge area, having discovered Jazz's Karaoke equipment being fawned over by the pink femme Joyride.

'Angel is mused and comments, "You'd think with the amount of exercise Bluestreak gives his vocalisers, that he'd actually be able to sing something audible!"

This got a few laughs out of the mechs that were closest to her, including some of the new femmes that had come along to the party too.

The twins were still laughing away when the very drunk blue femme Jazz was entertaining, his 'fiance', got fed up with the noise, "Thash it, enough'o thish shtuff, tahme for shum real shingin' ya'll." Sound Track tried to climb over the top of the couch only to lose her balance and fall flat on her face behind the couch, where she was immediately the subject of hysterical fits of laughter from some nearby mechs at the poker table.

It only served to put the twins into further fits of laughter and they couldn't concentrate on their game of poker at a table with Smokescreen, Tracks and Mirage.

"Pay attention you two clowns?!" Says Tracks annoyed.

"Slag off wannabe." Came the snide remark from Sunstreaker.

"Help ah've fallen an' ah cahn't get up!" Came the laughing response from Sound Track as Jazz finally got her onto her peds after falling back down with her a few times. She wasn't usually this comedic, Sound Track was very much emotionally staunch like Prowl was, but the high grade did help her soemwhat to loosen up.

Dark Angel scanned the room and noticed that Hot Rod and Burnout were having a drinking competition, both being spurred on by a few of the minibots present here tonight. It appeared that Ratchet, Vanguard and Trailbreaker, all seasoned drinkers were part of it also. Smokescreen and Sideswipe both diverting their attention away from the poker game momentarily, were taking bets on the drinking too and smirked between themselves.

Jazz couldn't get Sound Track to settle down and stop her giggling and she couldn't stand up straight so he just put her back on the couch, but it wasn't long before she jumped him and smothered him under some amorous affection.

"Well the party host won't be coming up from that any time soon!" Jokes Angel as she goes over and joins the drinking game spectators.

She had been drinking a fair bit herself and had noted how much Burnout had already consumed, being that she was one of the very few mechs who could match her fuel intake and not be affected by it, Burnout however was victim to the intoxicating side effects of consuming too much energon, but she was a happy drunk and was gladly revelling in currently being the leader of the game.

A white and silver police van femme, Vanguard, eventually bowed out as did Hot Rod, and followed not long by Trailbreaker who unceremoniously passed out on the floor.

Dark Angel was kind enough to pick him up and help him to a side room to sleep off his intoxication. When returning back to her seat she noticed that Jazz wasn't the only one being accosted by a femme, but then Blaster looked like he was enjoying it, being alone in one of side booths playing around with his new girlfriend Flashdance, SOund Track's twin sister.

She smirked and shook her head.

As she sat down to watch the drinkers again they yelled in triumph as Ratchet finally gave out and Burnout became the winner.

"Poor guy," She commented to an inebriated Vanguard next to her, "He never stood a chance!"

Dark Angel had decided that she'd gotten a little bored with the party; she was a workaholic and felt like she needed some paperwork to do. She wasn't complaining that Jazz's party had been a let down for her, none of them ever were, she just got bored very easily, that and she was a little weary and just wanted to go home. She was tired from all the work she had done today and her processors weren't exactly 100%.

She found Jazz who had been allowed to come up for air through his vents now that Sound Track had fallen asleep on top of him, sprawled all over the place.

"Okay Jazz I'm headin' off now. It's been a long day and I want to get home for some rest ok." She assured him and the others she as just tired from work today and rest would be forthcoming.

She was sure the twins would regale her tomorrow on what she missed, they always did. Ever since that little incedent when she had first arrived on Earth and had been given a welcoming party at the Ark's rec room and fallen asleep on them both.

But at the exit she was accosted by Hot Rod, "Goin' so soon sweetheart!" He was very intoxicated.

"You really shouldn't have entered that drinking competition, you've got a mission departure for Cybertron first thing in the morning and you always get hangovers. And I don't think Ultra Magnus will appreciate that." She said to her friend concerned. But he passed out before he could say a word.

Far from being able to wake him, she decides to help carry him to his own apartment which isn't too far from the part hall a few floors up. She carries him to the lift and up to his place. She figured it would be ok to crash at his place as her own apartment was on the other side of the complex and she was too tired to go all the way home now after putting all the effort of carrying Hot Rod's dead weight home.

*


	4. Chapter 4

*

An hour or so later after being dropped off home, Hot Rod had woken up and seen that he wasn't at the party anymore. He looked around and saw that he was at home in his own apartment. And he wasn't alone.

He saw who it was who had brought him here, who he thought would have.

He was still inebriated and was glad he was alone in his own apartment with a femme, part of him still in party mode and wanting to have some fun.

He did his best to walk as straight as he could over to Dark Angel's sleeping form on his couch and tried to wake her.

She woke up after a few prods and he commented to her, "Sleeping beauty finally awakens, though not by a kiss from her Prince Charming!" He said as he loomed over her.

She noted he was still somewhat inebriated. He always got sickeningly flirtatious and over charming when he was inebriated and a real handful. She was hoping he'd just sleep the rest of the night. She knew he had an assignment to go on tomorrow and him turning up with a bad hangover and lack of rest with a proper shutdown and rechanrge wouldn't impress Ultra Magnus much.

"What's up." She uttered yawning to get air circulating in her vents to wake up.

'_She looked so peaceful just sleeping there.'_ He thought,_ 'Why'd I have to go and ruin it by waking her up.'_

He remembered he had somewhere he needed to be in the morning, but right now all he could think of was that idea he had a while back. He was going to be leaving on assignment for about a year and wanted to leave his 'Angel with something special to remember him by.

"Hi." He said as he crept closer to her on the couch.

"Hi." She returned his greeting. She decided it would be better just to play along, especially when he was like this. She knew it but Hot Rod hadn't noticed that when he'd had too much energon in his systems he was stronger than normal, not that it would have bothered her. Her own strength was more than enough of a match for anything physical he could try on her. "So what do I owe the pleasure of having my dreams interrupted?" She mused

"You have the pleasure of a handsome daredevil such as myself!"

They quite often carried on in each others presence like this when they were alone. Even though they were only officially friends, but recently things had changed slightly. Her true feelings for him had been exposed and she still hadn't had the proper time or chance to talk to him about it at length.

All Dark Angel could think about how tired she was, but she was enjoying the view her friend was presenting to her. She had always thought he was as good looking as the twins were but had never said it to him, at least not openly.

He did however know she felt about him, she'd revealed to him as much not too long ago, bearing her feelings. But he had yet to tell her how he really felt.

That night she had told him her feelings he had decided to do something for her, but he'd been putting it off for one thing or another and he decided that while he had her here in his apartments he'd do for her that he'd never again do for any other femme.

It had been hard for him to admit to himself that he'd fallen in love with her as much as she'd fallen in love with him.

And it was a long and hard decision to make but he did want to share his spark with her, even though she would probably baulk at the idea, especially since he was rather drunk right now, and that she had a lot of personal integrity where inerfacing was concerned.

She smirked to herself and adjusted herself on the couch to get a more comfortable spot to relax. She was surprised when he picked her up and took her to his personal quarters, putting her gently down on his bed and then lay down next to her to talk. That must have been some strong high grade for him to pick her up so effortlessly as he usually couldn't get even a foot of hers of the ground.

"So how are we going to go from here, with everything that's happened lately, nothing's the same as it was." He said.

She was surprised by how intelligent he had suddenly become in his inebriated state. There wasn't too many occasions where she had seen him drunk and conscious she had to admit. She had to be careful now, despite the fact he was well aware of her feelings for him, and she knew that deterring him from whatever he had in mind right now would only make him come on stronger.

He was like that. Pushing till he got what he wanted and then moved on after he'd been satisfied. She wondered how she was going to fend him off. Not only because she was tired but because she wanted him, and didn't know if she could abstain from that want.

She had to hide her feelings even now and control herself. But he was in one of his moods tonight and still had too much energon in his system from the party earlier in the night. She hoped that just playing along wouldn't get her in any trouble.

Dark Angel had never been one to take what she wanted. It was all part of her noble nature, she just took whatever scraps she could find or needed and fashioned her life out of that, never really caring what happened to her or her health along the way. She was a survivor and scrapper, first and foremost.

That was one thing Hot Rod also admired about her. That and she always gave her all, and always stood up to his cockiness and bravado, and he loved it. He would find it hard himself not to take advantage of a femme that he respected, one that would have him freely however, it still did confuse him to a degree about what to do. He knew that if he took what he wanted from her and then did what he usually did with femme's, there might be trouble, and he loved trouble. If he did do something, it was going to hurt like the Pits ripping himself away from her tomorrow when he left for his new assignment on Cybertron.

She'd loved him for what had seemed forever, but she wasn't about to submit to just anyone, not only because of his reputation but also because she wasn't sure how he felt about her, he had yet to get up the bearings to tell her.

She wasn't intentionally trying to ruin her own integrity by considering letting herself go with Hot Rod, it was just that she was tired of having to hold back her feelings on one aspect, but was afraid to commit to someone who wasn't reliable for the stable future she wanted for herself.

She found herself leaning into Hot Rod's gentle caresses on her body and looked up to face him and try to answer his question. "I don't know how we are going to go from here. I don't even know if we need to go anywhere. You're leaving tomorrow and I won't see you for at least a year, so what's the point really. You'll probably just run off with some femme while you're there and forget about me." Now she was letting her fears get to her.

Hot Rod just smiled lightly and caressed her faceplate then leaned in for a passionate embrace. It made her forget for a moment everything she was just thinking.

She got so lost in the feeling that she also forgot herself. She couldn't help but drop her guard and let him get on with it. _'It's what he wants, and what I want too, but am I going to regret it in the morning?' _she thinks to herself.

She rolls him onto his back. He becomes somewhat curious as to what she's doing until she has straddled him. "You know I never thought I'd ever get into a position like this with you!" He jokes. "That and you're damn heavy!" He wheezes slightly from his coolant vents in response to the extra weight on top of him from this heavier femme.

He had to admit, being this close to someone he was very friendly and comfortable with, made him rather amorous and excited.

She hesitates again, wrestling with her integrity and gets off of him, knowing that if they continue, if she lets it continue, she may sacrifice something she'll regret giving away. He playfully grabs her and moves her around till she's under him.

She didn't bother resisting. Part of her couldn't tear away and wanted so much for this to happen, even if it was just for one night, she just didn't care, she was prepared to let go and be with him. She didn't care about the consequences; she just wanted the one she'd fallen in love with to be with her right now.

He was the one in control and neither one seems fazed by the position they were in, and neither one seemed to want to move now.

For a moment they both look into each others optics. She noticed they were that bright friendly blue that she loved to look at. Right now he just stared into her optics. "Such beautiful green..." He says as he strokes her face plate. Green was a rare colour for optics amongst Cybertronians and Dark Angel was one of those rare few who had them.

Hot Rod can't help but think of how comfortable he was around Dark Angel, someone who understands his wayward wonderings and always welcomes him back with open arms, no matter what he does. But somewhere inside his processors he thinks that being here right now where he is on top of Dark Angel, so close in this very compromising position, feels just so right, and he momentarily forgets about everything else, letting lust creep into his mind being unknowingly guided by his own passion to do what will happen tonight.

She didn't move or even flinch like he thought she would. She just laid there and stared at him. She was as fond of him as he was of her.  
"Should I show you now how I really feel about you my angel?"

The tender comment and the kisses that followed only served to strengthen her own reasons to stay and let this happen, despite her logic circuits fighting to get her away from him.

He looked back at her. He was in the mood to indulge himself. He hadn't done so for quite a while though, not since Dark Angel had told him about her feelings for him. He supposed if Dark Angel was willing to play along, they'd both get what they wanted tonight.

"So um...you wanna have some fun?" He asks in his playful vocals. She had lost the war with her logic circuits and let her emotions take control. She wondered why she even bothered listening to it. _'I have nothing if not my honour and my pride.'_ Said one thought in her mind._ 'Go on, do it, you know you want it. You've wanted this for like forever.'_

Part of her was wanting him so bad she could just taste the passion he could bring to her, to get completely lost in the moment. To lose herself in his close company. Like she had wanted to since they first met.

That was when Hot Rod grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head, and kissed her. A long sensuous and passionate kiss. She did not baulk or resist and this surprised Hot Rod a little. "You don't seem to be trying too hard to stop me you know?" He looked over her face and smiled, moving closer to her softened lips, "It's almost as if you wanted me to show you the night of your life!" He comments playfully. Then kisses her again, this time deeper and with more passion than she's ever felt from anyone before.

"I'm only worried about what's going to happen tomorrow?" She pouts.

"I only see you here right now and that's all we need to worry about!" He smiles amorously and devilishly.

By the sounds of it, he'd made the choice to not only flirt deliberately with her but also had planned this encounter. She didn't care now, all she wanted was him and so she just stopped resisting altogether finally, and enjoyed the moment.

Her instincts were also getting a word in. She'd always trusted her instincts, and no matter how much she'd waived off getting involved with him for whatever adventure he was always running off on, being irresponsible and young, she was being told by her instincts to let go and indulge herself, and so she did, rather vehemently.

Together they let themselves both go and indulge completely in the moment and went into deep places in their bodies and minds that neither had been to before. The depth of their passionate tryst creating a level of intensity within both their spark cores and making them both float between reality and somewhere else, not of this world when the conjoining of their sparks came and subsided.

Afterwards, Hot Rod lay back on the recharge bed next to Dark Angel and let his optics switch off for a moment, he saw the dark femme next to him and his desires fulfilled. His instincts for Dark Angel had guided him to this moment with her tonight. _'What now?_' he thought to himself.

He lay on his back next to Dark Angel for about half an hour before he rolled back over to talk to her, while she waited there patiently for him to respond, "I don't know what it is that makes me feel so drawn to you tonight, I..." He pauses, not having anything else to say, but then tries to think of something, "Well, I'm...I ah...I just feel closer to you than ever tonight I guess." He says as he reaches over to her fondly and starts getting amorous again.

'Angel cannot seriously think of a reason why not to continue this night of self indulgence. She had been holding her personal feelings for Hot Rod back for some time now and she couldn't hold it in anymore finally getting the release she had so long desired. And now that she was getting a chance to show her feelings, she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that.

Hot Rod had returned to his spot on top of Dark Angel and she looked him square in the optics. While smiling broadly at her, "And I guess there's no point holding back any more is there, since this is something we both wanted tonight, for whatever our reasons."

She smiled back at him. "Guess not!" She replies playfully opening up Hot Rod's chest casing and having her way with the sensitive cables therein.

"Careful there," He mused, "That tickles!" She laughs.

Now that she had heard him make a conscious admission of his own feelings for her in whatever way he had gotten his words across, the guilt of giving herself away to him had lessened and so they continued their passionate encounter for the rest of the night till the early hours of the morning.

*


	5. Chapter 5

*

She'd come online again after some time late in the morning before noon and no one was about. She was alone in Hot Rod's apartment. She was not at all surprised.  
_'Maybe I was used for a one night stand after all. Maybe he's gone off on his mission already, gloating to the others about getting his way with me.' _She thought to herself letting her insecurities about his reputation get to her. She couldn't help thinking it hadn't happened at all either.

Her mind was well rested and she found her psionics rather sharp today, and it gave her head casing a migraine. _'Why now of all the times?' _She found her answer not long after that, the emotions of several on the base of Autobot City were running high and all she could do was rub her head case, the emotions were rather sharper and easier to see than usual. And even though she was angry at Hot Rod for leaving her here alone, she couldn't help but be curious as to what was going on.

Then she remembered that the mission was leaving about now from the launch pad elsewhere on the base right about now. After checking her internal chronometer to confirm the time she got up rather quickly.

She got up off of her rear chassis and stretched. She was sore and tired still. She must have had one hell of a night for her to feel like this. Even though there was no evidence of it on her paint job, the nanopaint having taken care of any scratches and paint damage. She checked her energon levels and noticed they were lower than they should have been, further confirming the fact she'd had one hell of a night, so she had thought.

Although, she made a mental note to talk to Ratchet when she had the chance. She just didn't feel herself and getting a check up would better than leaving it go in case something was wrong.

*

As she wandered down to the launch pad she had gotten both weird and amused looks from some of the mechs here today. Her head was still swimming from the extra input of her sharp psionic sensors and she couldn't decipher what it all meant. Her head was a mess, it took all her strength just to be able to focus and move.

She turned down another hallway, with curiosity and annoyance both on her mind, and intent to find who she was looking for. She walked right past the rec room area where some other mech's had just come out of the room after she walked by.

She noticed that some of them had been at Jazz's party last night and were still nursing their head cases from partying too hard. She smirked, trust Jazz to have another party that trashed everyone present.

She'd wandered into the launch bay lounge to see what was going on for the mission departure, but no one she knew, who were going with Ultra Magnus, was around. So she was about to go down to the launch platform itself to see where they were.

"Hey little sis' wait up!" Calls out a familiar voice. It was Sideswipe. He looked like he had something on his mind, so she waited for him to catch up, "I wanna chat to ya? You're the talk of the town right now and I want to ask if it's true, what happened with Hot Rod and all?"

She lifts her optic brow and the surprised and embarrassed look on her faceplate tells him everything he needs to know. She lowers her head, "Yes. Yes it is, why?"

"Coz he's braggin' like he's bagged the deal of the century. You want me and Sunny should mess him up a bit?"

She was admiring his concern, knowing that Sideswipe would have preferred to get the story straight from her before doing anything, after having learnt his lessons of acting first and talking later and getting involved in Dark Angel's affairs, years ago, as did Sunstreaker. Doing something then having her mad because he did the wrong thing wasn't worth his time.

"There you are?" Exclaims the other twin appearing from seemingly nowhere, "So is it true?"

"Yeah." Replies Sideswipe.

"And?" Says Sunstreaker snidely, "Are we going to mess the slagger up or not?"

"Thanks guys for the concern but I'll do the messing myself." She says angrily and sternly.

Both of the twins look at each other brows lifted then back at her when they see the look in her optics, then quickly get out of the way when Dark Angel storms off.

She stops for a short second and then turns back to them with a stupid grin on her faceplate, "Um, which way?" They both point south, down to the lower rec room next to the runway.

Not long after she left, they followed closely behind to view the upcoming fight. "1000 credits on Hot Rod to end up slagged up beyond all recognition!" Muses Sideswipe.

"You're on!" replies an equally mirthful Sunstreaker.

As soon as Dark Angel enters the runway lounge, some of the jeers start.

Cliffjumper was one of the closest as she passes him, "Well here she is, sparked at…hurrk!" He wasn't able to finish what he said as she grabbed him by his neck with one hand and had him off the ground.

Her optics were starting to turn slightly red and everyone noticed, "Anyone else want to say something?" Many of the other mechs clear the room but stay at a safe distance. Never removing her gaze from the subject of her visit, she tosses Cliffjumper into the bunch of startled mechs at the back of the room.

He saw her there and would've turned and ran but he waited till she caught up to him.

"Is it true?" She bellows, "Have you been bragging to everyone about your supposed conquering of me last night?" She is fuming.

He was drinking some energon and doesn't bother to acknowledge her. He sees her. He feels bad for bragging but he couldn't afford to leave with any attachments now that he had received a full mission brief report from Ultra Magnus, so he had gone with his usual chatter after conquering a femme.

"Dark', I…" He tries to talk but she cuts in. She takes that as an admission of his guilt.

"We need to talk and now!" She demands "NOW!" she shouts at him.

He cowers slightly when he sees that angry look on her face.

At the back of the room, Sideswipe wasn't passing up an opportunity. Even though he was concerned for the welfare of his friend, he wasn't going to let some bets pass him by. Many had already taken up his bet and he was raking in the credits from his fellow soldiers. Hopefully one of the officers wouldn't drop by and ruin the fight he thought Hot Rod so dutifully deserved.

Sideswipe gives his brother a look, "I'll keep watch." Says Sunstreaker.

Jazz's partner Sound Track is also in the room an calls out jovially, "Don' ya'll mess him up too bad honey!"

She ignores the group behind her and advances on Hot Rod. He knows he's made the wrong decision to jest about his actions last night in light of his leaving on assignment today and knows he's in for the beating of his life. "If this is about last night, I…"

_Whack._

She ignores him and swiftly punches him with a right hook across the left side of his jaw. The crowd felt and heard the power of that punch from the corner they were huddled in.

Jazz and Grimlock had just turned up at another door and after seeing what was going on. Grimlock asks, "Me Grimlock want to know what her 'Angel doing to him Hot Rod?"

He received a rather hurried explanation from Mirage who was close to both of them. There were many more ooohs and ahhhs from the crowd as Hot Rod received blow after blow, barely able to keep up his guard from Dark Angel's strong blows.

Finally he crashes to the floor, realising he's just made the stupidest mistake of his young life. She's never hit him this hard before even when they were playing around. She meant business right now and she was ticked off enough to kill.

She stops the fury for a moment to look at him. Crouching down to see the damage on his face. She gingerly touches the side of his face to feel the damage. His faceplate was cracked across his jaw line and he was bleeding through that same crack. He was also panting to keep his systems cooled from the exercise he had received.

Dark Angel grabbed him by the neck plates and lifts him up, ready to throw another punch at him.

"Wait. Can you wait, please!" He begs grabbing at her tight grip on his neck.

"GIVE ME ONE DAMN REASON WHY?" She yells at him angrily, making the others in the room wince from the level of sound.

"I'm sorry ok. I'm so sorry." He tried to apologize but he knew she didn't want to listen. He'd only seen her angry like this once before. Just like he had at Shockwave's base and then she had gone redline and trashed everything in sight. He was grateful that he was still functional right now.

She had gotten so angry then trying to find Shockwave and pay him his due that her optics had gone red, just like they were now. Her strength then had been incredible. He'd never seen a femme tear through so much metal like it was paper or something.

He decides that he didn't have a choice here and gave up. He had been leaning with his back to the wall and waited for her second punch to come but it never did.

She had punched her fist in the wall. Right now she was standing right in front of him but her head was hanging. He did not know what to do. If he tried to comfort her she may object and hit him again. But if he did nothing she would probably hit him anyway. So he tried something else. Talking.

She wasn't about to tell him that her energy was running very low and she was very tired, but he could probably tell from her excessive venting.  
Hot Rod's face had started to bleed again. His healing system had only just finished trying to seal it off when she grabbed him and tossed him across the room. Only this time he had bitten his lip component accidentally and he coughed up some energon. He looked up at her. He couldn't find the words to say. He could feel her anger, her frustration, in fact he could feel all of her emotions. _'Is this what she has? This empathy?'_ He clutched his head as soon as he realised what it was. The ability reached out on its own and he could feel everyone close by, and he wondered what had happened to him last night exactly, had their abilities somehow merged? She shut off her emotional connection as soon as she realised what was going through his head.

She had walked over to where he was and stood over him looking at him as he tried to keep his head up looking at her. "You have to know now that I want nothing more to do with you after what you just pulled." Her venting was getting more laborious now. And she strained to keep her system cooled down from the low energon in her system.

It was then that Springer, Ultra Magnus and Ratchet showed up in the halls outside.

"Scatter!" Yelled Sunstreaker. A few mechs gathered around the entrance to try and prevent the officers coming into the room.

"What in the slag is going on here?" Yelled Springer.

Ratchet followed shortly behind, and was angry and annoyed at being stopped from going somewhere. He had gotten word from someone there was something going on in this lounge and it may need his attention. He spies Dark Angel in the room and also sees her towering over Hot Rod, who was half conscious and limp against one wall. She geared up her right leg and kicked him square in the middle of the torso, while he was still very much defenseless.

"I think that's enough 'Angel," Grumbles Ratchet as he walks over to her quickly, grabbing her and restraining her as best he could. He noticed however she was low on enrgy after using his scanner and she let herself be taken into custody by a few soldiers in Ultra Magnus's entourage. But still 'Angel swears at them and spits on floor removing some energon that had started to drip out of the corner of her mouth.

"I think some time in the brig may settle you down some Dark Angel. I can't have you beating up agents I'm about to send off on assignment for a long period of time." Says Ultra Magnus.

She spies Ratchet looking over Hot Rod and he tells Ultra Magnus, "Don't take her anywhere yet. I'll take care of her problems, First Aid can take care of his on the way to Cybertron." Hot Rod groaned in extra pain and was still slumped onto the floor, coughing slightly trying to get the energon out of his mouth and twitching from the pain Dark Angel had just dealt him, "I'm loathe to let him go anywhere, But First Aid can nurse him back to fighting fit, that…" He glares at 'Angel, "And I think these two need to be as far away from each other as possible for a fair while." He had heard from his mysterious informant about what was happening before he came running.  
"Let him take care of himself." She spat angrily, getting a rather hard slap from Ratchet. She was so tired that she didn't even acknowledge it or bother retaliating.

"I'm sorry kid but you need to wake up and listen." Ratchet looks to the soldiers holding her, "Take her to the medical bay and wait for me there." He glances around at the crowd still hanging around, "And you lot clear off!" The deathly stare on the chief medical officer's faceplate was enough to make several mech's run for dear life in every direction.

*

She woke up sometime later in the medical bay long after the mission for Cybertron had already left.

Dark Angel still couldn't shake off her tiredness despite being on the recharge bed for the Light only knew how long. And to make matters worse, she was now very tired and at Ratchet's mercy.

"So you're awake now?" said Sideswipe from the door. She had a confused look on her face.

"They've been standing there since the guards brought you in here, and took their places when Optimus was here earlier asking about what happened. They wanted to make sure you were ok."

She groaned from the pain and sighed. "And so what's the prognosis dear doctor."

He avoided giving her an answer and then moved to close door to her private room. He warned the twins to back off and let him close it, then started talking.

He commented amusingly, "You and your tryst last night with a certain mech who is now on his way to Cybertron is certainly the talk of the base today. That and I think the twins little betting ring raked in a fair amount of credit though they won't surrender their intake."

All she did was raise one side of her brow line to signify to Ratchet that she wasn't in the mood for his humour or small talk. She was also annoyed at the twins for doing what they did, but it was to be expected, that was how they were, opportunists, or at least Sideswipe was. "Get to the point!" She grumbled hautily.

"Ok Miss Sourfemme." He held out a datapad for her to read and her face was taken over by a surprised expression the moment she read the data.

It had the results of the systems analysis Ratchet had done on her after she was brought into the medical bay, "Are you serious, really?"

"Yes really?" His face somewhat softened from giving her the news, "Congratulations! I think you'll make a great mo…"

"No." She cuts him off. She knew this wasn't a joke now. It was not something Ratchet would do. Something this serious was not to be joked about. Something like this, according to Ratchet, from what she had been told in the past, had not happened since before the war started, and the fact that it was happening right here in his medical bay, he was positively beaming for once. "I don't want anyone knowing, not even them." She motioned to the door where the twins were on the other side, probably trying to listen at the door.

The happy look on his face was replaced by a stern one. "Then we'll have to go ahead and make some changes to your routine to accommodate for that."

"No problem." She watches as Ratchet looks over the medical devices connected to her, "Ratchet?"

"Hmmm?"

"If you have to, only tell Optimus about this ok. ANd try not to let Jazz worm any secrets out of you like he usually finds a way to do."

"You have my word in regards to optimus, but Jazz is another matter entirely, so I can't make any promises there." He allows her to lean into him and hug him, returning the years long and well earnt affection to his younger friend.

*


	6. Chapter 6

H*

Today.

"Well where should we start? I know we have lots to talk about." He was being as open and upfront as he could, watching her for any sudden moves or mood changes, as he knew she was capable of them. He had only been back a few hours and had been cajoled into coming to talk to her by Ratchet and also by his own guilt over what he did to her before he had left for Cybertron on assignment a year or so ago.

She was sitting across from him on another couch and suddenly gets up. She walks right up to him and he gets up to face her hoping she might say something. They stand looking at each other for a while and then she hits him fair in the jawplate and he staggers back on the couch.

"Ouch!" He exclaims as he gets his bearings back, "Remind me to never make you angry ever again." Still fondling his jaw he comments, "I guess I deserved that." She continues to remain silent, so he takes it as his cue to talk. "I suppose if you're not going to say anything I guess I'll start then shall I?"

She just ignored him and wanders over to her window to view the base.

"I know with what I did to you, I have no right to be here right now to apologize. I acted like a childish idiot and took advantage of you and your feelings for me, but I did have a reason for doing it."

This got a reaction from her, she turned to face him, "How could you, how dare you!" She was shrieking. "Do you even understand the humiliation I felt, do you even have any neural circuitry in the cerebral casing of yours?"

His head was still ringing from her forceful blow to his jaw so he had to wince when she yelled. As he was rubbing his head he said, "I did what I did because I didn't want to lose you in case some thing happened to me out there. I had gotten information at the last moment that morning about my mission. I didn't want you pining after me if I didn't come back that's all. It was the only way for me to cut ties with you so you wouldn't be left here waiting."

This softened her sharp looks up somewhat and she came back over to her couch and sat down.

"So uh Ratchet seemed to think it was very important I talk to you about something and what you've been going through the last cycle. Would you care to elaborate?" He asks

"As usual!" She scoffs, "I have to explain everything to you don't I."

"Well you were always good for getting information out of…" Hot Rod had a momentary lapse of control and subconsciously reaches out for her across the gap between them.

She shies away and glares at him. "It won't be that easy for me to trust you ever again Hot Rod, not after what happened, and not after all those attempts I made to contact you on Cybertron decidedly fell on glitching audios. It wouldn't have mattered whether you thought cutting ties to me would work or not. Even you would've noticed the apparent bond between us now." He nods slightly in agreeance, "I would've known the instant you had been terminated." Dark Angel had known about their bonding not long after he had left for his mission but she had securely dampened and slammed it shut on her end. He had only realised it recently.

"Now that wasn't entirely my fault, the lack of receiving communication. I was working undercover for most of it and didn't get any correspondence other than my mission data."

"Whatever." She replies coolly.

"So are you going to tell me what Ratchet wanted me to know?"

"Instead of telling you, it would be better if I showed you." He had gone back to couch and she come over to join him. She willingly opened the bond between him to show what she wanted to hide. She kneels on her knees and opens her chest casing to show him her spark chamber and he could disticntly sense two pulses emanating from within her spark chamber.

Now Hot Rod didn't know much about Cybertronian medical engineering but he knew she was carrying a second spark within her and suspected straight away what it was for even with the extra data flowing inot him through their bond. "Is that what I think it is?" He asks gingerly, not wanting to tempt fate and have her hit him again for saying something she didn't like.

"Yes." Was her short reply.

"So um, this is why you've been out of it emotionally lately like everyone's said you've been?"

"Yes, but only Ratchet, Optimus and myself knew. I didn't want anyone else to know, especially the twins. You know how they would've reacted to it after what you did to me, and also considering they adopted me as their little sister; they would have gone after you on Cybertron and done something to you, even if I had told them not to. Ratchet didn't even tell Jazz or Prowl because I asked him not to even though Jazz tried his utmost to get the secret out of him, Ratceht didn't give in. He just told everyone I had medical problems that needed a long rest and recovery for.

"Somehow the other day my name came up for routine training and I then I found out you were coming back and I went ballistic all of a sudden and I needed a release. I lost it. The mood swings have been there ever since you left, only because I was separated from you."

Hot Rod lowered his gaze from her and let her close her chest casing. He still felt guilty for doing what he did, and now he felt even worse because of what she had had to go through because of him and his youthful immaturity and stupidity.

Now he understood why. "I'm so sorry for being such an ignorant jerk." He reaches out to put his arms around her while she's still on her knees, and is somewhat surprised at the return affection.

"And an emotional coward." She adds which makes him smile.

"Yeah that too."

They had inadvertently sparked when they had spent their first and only night together with each other right before their major fight in front of everyone at the departure hanger which had inadvertantly led to them being bonded emotionally. And Dark Angel's acting out hadn't been aggression at all, she was pining because she wanted to be with him, like he had been feeling for her.

"You know I haven't been with any other femmes since I left right?"

"Yeah." She responds confidently.

He knew about the connection between the two of them now and had never thought for a nanosecond that she would end up carrying a sparkling, his sparkling. Something like this hadn't happened for ages from what he knew about Cybertronian history. "You know what this means don't you?" he asks her.

She had propped herself up next to him on the couch and was thinking. Her want of causing him permanent harm had gradually subsided the longer she was in his presence and she had begun to feel her old emotions for him again. She just couldn't bring herself to hurt him again; her anger was just gone now. She knew it was their bond doing this and she was grateful for it. An unspoken connection had started between them and she didn't ever want to be rid of him ever again.

"Hey you listenin'?" She hadn't been, her thoughts had drifted and she shakes her head in response. "This means that we're going to be parents. I'm going to be a, what's the word Spike uses, a father."

Dark Angel smiled but wasn't really paying attention. Even though she felt better for having Hot Rod back in her presence again, she was keen not to let him out of her sight ever again. This point for them had been a long time coming.

But there was something else.

"Roddy?" That was her pet name for him.

"Yeah 'Angel?" he responds.

"Can you call Ratchet for me please," She starts feeling signs of obvious pain and it shows on her face, "I need some immediate medical attention." She tried to be jovial about as Hot Rod runs off to the comms unit in her apartment so he wouldn't worry, but by the time he'd come back, she had already passed out.

So he just sat there with her till help arrived.

*


	7. Chapter 7

*

It was pouring rain out as it had been like this for what had seemed like ages. The femme was not impressed with being confined to the indoors.

To the medical ward of all places.

"You know it's for your own good, don't you?" Ratchet says to her.

She raises her brow and turns behind her to look at her old friend. While the rain still continues to splatter on the windows outside and the wind howls away.

"So, Jazz said he might stop by today? You think he'll have time to?"

Ratchet smiles. It had taken a long time for her to start showing her softer side to everyone else. He and a fair few others were grateful for the most part that she was that little bit easier to get along with now after years of being bonded to Hot Rod.

He wasn't the only one who noticed it though. Motherhood and leadership with Hot Rod, now Rodimus, of Cybertron's religious sector, the Covenant of Primus, certainly did agree with her.

Ratchet knew she missed him terribly. He was currently away on business. She quite often got pouty and sought out another's company when she was left alone for too long. She was not the loner that she used to be. Especially since now she had several sparklings.

Rodimus was also worried about her condition. She had not been able to deliver her last two sparklings properly and painlessly without Ratchet's dire help. And this one had been rather complicated thus far. So he had posted a couple of mech's to guard his bondmate twenty four-seven, not only to keep her safe but to also stop her from doing anything he would've done as his younger self would have. He knew all too well how stubborn, wilful and headstrong his partner was and knew precautions had to be made to protect her from herself sometimes, no matter how much she objected or argued with him over it.

She smirked at this, she knew it was one of his tactics, but at least she knew he cared. She remembered at the beginning how hard it was, how hard it had been to get him to realise how he really felt about her, and how hard it had been for her to show him how she felt too. How long it had taken to accept his responsibilities, not only to her and their new sparkling at the time, but also to their relationship. It was the emergence of their first sparkling that had finally brought him around.

She'd done something very drastic right before her first's birth to get him back home again and remind him of where his loyalties lay at the time, almost killing ehrself and putting the sparkling at risk. He became more sensible after that. After he realised how much risk he had put Dark Angel and their unborn spark in.

The part of him that was still Hot Rod didn't disappear completely though, he just matured through their relationship together. Later events had allowed him to make a choice and change his name to something more appropriate, since he was now the pre-eminent representative of Primus, now ranked even higher than Optimus Prime himself.

But he wasn't a Prime, just a religious advisor. A figurehead and representative between Primus, the Prime and the Cybertronian race. He didn't mind it, it still gave him his freedom, as he was still able to roam wherever he wanted to, but it also weighed heavily with responsibilities.

Dark Angel sighed. She stopped thinking about her bondmate for a moment and looked around the room. Vanguard and Sound Track were watching on as usual. Sound Track had bonded with Jazz years ago, and Vanguard had followed suit not so long ago by catching prwol for herself which was no mean feat.

Vanguard had just gotten back from retrieving some refreshments. 'Angel sat down at the nearest table with the two femmes and spent some time catching up with them and their personal lives.

"Hey Sonny, so how's Jazz doing? You think he'll drop by today?" She asks.

"Maybe, maybe not!" She jokes. Sound Track was now very jovial outwardly, not as stuffy as she had once been, but war can do that to you.

"Yeah." Vanguard replies smiling and laughing lightly. "Maybe he'll be busy with Prowl again?"

"If ya'll weren't Prowl's bondmate, ah'm sure a femme lahke mahself could get jealous o'all tha tahme they spend tagetha!"

Vanguard muses the comment to herself and looks over to where Dark Angel has sat down across from them.

She was also smiling, but also sitting in quiet contemplation thinking. Thinking about Rodimus again.

All that time long ago. All that needling of each other over the years before their passion was finally consummated. He'd admitted to her how he really felt eventually, but it hadn't solved everything altogether, as it was just the start of it all between them. It had been awhile before he'd finally settled into a fatherhood and partnership role.

All those years of him thinking that 'Angel wasn't interested in being anything more than a friend and him, being who he was, too sure of himself and his precious playboy reputation, he wanted a figurehead for a bondmate, not realizing that the truest love he'd ever come to know was right under his faceplate the whole time.

"Heh, I know that look!" Says an amused Vanguard, "That's the look of a femme that's hopelessly in love with her bondmate. Never thought I'd say this girl, but it's damn good to have you normal like the rest of us!"

"Since when has she evah been normal!" Jokes Sound Track.

"Gee thanks mate, thanks a lot!" Says 'Angel jokingly, she playfully nudges the blue femme in jest. Vanguard can only watch on and laugh at her friends.

While Ratchet continues to monitor Dark Angel in the back ground, the three femmes continue to laugh in unison with the ease of their friendship.

Just then Jazz walked in. He was very quiet about it. Sound Track's optics were not much good anymore, due to an accident a few years ago, she would have rather done without her optics than the alternative, but she was one hell of a fighter and tracker, using her audio systems to determine everything now. She had also become damn good at reading the minds of others mechs, having taken the time to develop her own telepathic abilities.

Jazz puts his arms around her and greeted her warmly. "Hi, sweet!"

Sound Track smiles, "And ya'll thought ta surprise me how?" She jokes.

"Ya know I can never surprise ya, ya're always one step ahead o'me. I s'pose that's why I love ya so much!" He responds. "That an' I'm jus' usin' ya for tha music!"

Sound Track had been a famous musician on Cybertron before the war and had joined the Autobots at the last possibale moment. Jazz had loved the fact she had once been one of his favourite singers, being one himself but not as well known as his partner and loved the fact he now had her as his bondmate. He could just sit there for hours soemtimes and listen to her sing for him.

"Aww, how cute!" Comments Vanguard.

Jazz turns and looks at Vanguard with his visored optics, "Never thought Prowlers would ever end up with such a romantic like you Van'! Ta be honest, never thought he'd end up with anyone!"

Vanguard just smirks ruefully.

"So how are your kids doing?" Asks Dark Angel.

Sound Track and Jazz thought about their two young creations. Their eldest Sunstar was adopted by Sound Track before she and Jazz had met and then Jazz had just taken to fatehring ehr too after they had bonded, and Dazzler was their oldest between them and their youngest Maestro, a mech. Dazzler had inherited Jazz's abilities, looks and temperament, while her younger brother was more like her mother used to be, ratehr quiet and cold in the emotional department.

"Fine s'far t'day. They're both doin' well at tha academy, though Dazzler's still wantin' ta be in with tha Autobot army, she's still not old 'nough, though she's just as eager! Sunstar…" Paused Jazz. "Is doin' ok as the new academy nurse. I ran in'a her there. Don' know how Sunny's copin' with her workin' long shifts but I guess he's doin tha same with his club now too. I won'er how their kids are copin' with it all?" He stops for a moment and looks at Sound Track. She knows there is something on his mind he'd like to talk about. Lots of things had changed for the Autobots since the day 'Angel had shown up. Many of the Autobots had been able to obtain some semblance of a life and family again after the war had ended.

"An' what about your's?" Asks Jazz of Vanguard.

"I've got enough sparklings to poke a stick at!" She jokes. She was of course referring to all of the war torn and homeless sparklings she had adopted for her and Prowl as they had yet to have any of their own with Prowl.

Jazz can't help but laugh. Prowl had definitely become a family mech, bonded to a romantic, but still fervently tilling away as 2IC of the new Cybertronian security forces.

Dark Angel is deep in thought. "D'?" Asks Sound Track.

She looks up, "Um... yeah I'm ok!"

Ratchet was sitting some distance from them, but he had an unobstructed view of the doorway and the hall leading to it. He noticed her going quiet and then spotted her offspring coming down the hall towards the medical bay. "Perhaps these ones will cheer you up?" Ratchet tells her.

Dark Angel turns just in time to see her eldest followed by his younger brother and sister walk in behind him. They all make a beeline for Dark Angel and hug their mother.

Daredevil, Darkfire and Hotwire were her sparklings. Dark Angel cared for them more than she cared about her life; she only wished their father were here more often to see them.

"Ah! Look at you all, you're all growing up so fast!" The children spent most of their time at the academy and had recently come home for a break as their mother was due to deliver again. Their father had allowed them the grace of spending some time away from the academy and keep their mother company while he was away.

Darkfire was the youngest and the only femme so far and still a youngling. She pipes up when Dark Angel puts her on her lap, "Where's daddy, mommy? When's he coming home?" She was such a sweet innocent young thing. Still not fully grown, only one and a half Earth years old, but bright as any highly educated human. She was only as big as an oversized human too. She did however spend a lot of time with Sunstar and liked all the medical terminology Sunstar taught her to understand, as well as hanging out with Ratchet alot, whcih softened up the old grouch.

But she always spoke her mind regardless of the consequences often fully knowing what she was doing and doing it very deliberately. Rodimus spoiled her way to much, her mother thought. She was also Ratchet and his own mate's favourite.

Hotwire was the second of the offspring and a real cynic, closer in size to a minibot now but more like a teen human. "Haven't you realised by now squirt that 'daddy' would only come back if someone bombed the base and something bad happened to us." Dark Angel had to shake her head. He always had a cruel streak and was more often than not rather negative.

"Stop it!" Yells Darkfire, "Mommy!" She starts crying, blue fluids streaming from her optics, "He's being mean to me again!" She buries her face in her mother's chest plate, "Daddy loves us and will come back for us." She says softly in a muffled vocal.

"Would you quit it? You're father has his reasons for being away." She could feel this getting into another argument. Hotwire had been sparked around the time Rodimus had first gotten the position he had now, spending a lot of time away from her and had inadvertantly passed along her isolation to her sons programming. His work kept them apart a lot and she resented being left alone all the time, and Hotwire had been brought online with a lot of that resentment in his system.

"Sure he does!" Sneered Hotwire sarcastically, and stormed off out of the room. Daredevil makes a grab for his brother but Dark Angel stops him.

Daredevil of course was the oldest. He was an adult and a member of Jazz's espionage team now. He was as charmoing with the femmes as his fatehr was, but only charmed them, nver actually doing anything with htem. He had a high level of integrity. However he had been trained very harshly by Sunstreaker and there were very few mechs who could match his martial combat skills.

"Let him go, he needs to let off some steam. He'll be back to normal when your father gets back. Trust me. He just misses him. Just as much as the rest of us." She sighs.

His mother's reassuring smile is enough to get him to sit down again. Daredevil was the quietest of the three. Even though he had a charm and humour that could melt the coldest femme's spark more than Sideswipe ever could and a confidence and skill that made Sunstreaker look like an amateur, he was still quiet. 'Angel was grateful that her adopted brothers' had trained him well.

Darkfire had since stopped crying and gone over to be entertained by 'Uncle Ratchet', who is showing her his workstation and trying to answer all her inquisitive enquiries.

Outside in the hallway Hotwire had stormed off so quickly and was not looking where he was going walking smack into another mech.

He rubs his head case and yells, "You klutz, why don't you look where you're…going!" He trails off as he realises who it was that he ran into.

"Sorry about that son!" Comments Rodimus.

"Father? But… you're not due back for another week?" He stammers.

"I know son. But the conference was cancelled and I came straight back to see everyone straight away."

"You did?" Hotwire seemed surprised. It was not something he could contend with. Rodimus rubbed his head case to reassure him. But all Hotwire does is knock his hand away and once again storms off.

Rod' watches his second son storm off, and shrugs, "Oh well?" Knowing full well Hotwire will sing a different tune some time later.

He turns and continues down the hall to the medical bay.

In the room, Darkfire was still asking questions. "And what does that do Uncle Ratchet?"

"That lets me watch the progress of your future brother or sister sparklings that your mother is carrying inside of her right now." Replies Ratchet in the best way he could not realising the youngling is much smarter than he thinks she is.

She gets as close to the screen as she can and grabs the top of the bench going onto the tips of her peds to see better. "Wow!" She exclaims, "I see one…two…three sparks. Does that mean Mommy will have triplets?"

"Well you're a smart one aren't you!" Muses Ratchet, patting her head case.

"Daddy says I'm going to grow up and be real smart like Mommy is." She blurts out enthusiastically.

"Did I hear someone talking about me?" Says a new face in a very familiar voice.

"Daddy!" Squeals Darkfire and races over to her father.

"Roddy? You're here. One week early, but, you're here." Exclaims 'Angel.

Jazz who was still in the room gives his old friend a hale and hearty handshake then lets him go to his bondmate.

'Angel gets up out of her chair as he approaches and gives her an amorous hug, being sure not to cause her any discomfort. He breaks away for a second and looks at her and then kisses her passionately.

He breaks away when he sees Daredevil standing there. "Being quiet and observant as usual eh?" He muses.

Daredevil just smirks and nods as he usually did. Standing there with all the savour faire of a James Bond character. "You bet!"

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Darkfire was still squealing at Rod's side, jumping up and down in excitement at her father's surprise appearance. He scoops her up and starts talking to her. "And how's my favourite little midget!"

She crosses her arms while being held by her father and pouts, "Now Daddy is being mean to me, and it's not fair! Hotwire was mean to me too Daddy, why are you being mean to me now?"

He can only laugh. He hands his daughter over to Daredevil and tells her, "Sweetheart, you know I'm only joking. Don't make such a fuss of it ok." He turns to Daredevil. "Ok son, you take care of your little sister, your mother and I have some business to take care of."

Daredevil playfully saluted his father and walks out with his sister still in his arms wanting to be put down and return to her father.

Dark Angel watches them leave and comments, "You know you've got to stop teasing her, it'll give her a program complex. And another thing…mmph…"

He cuts her off by kissing her again and bringing her into an embrace.

"Get a room you two!" Jokes Vanguard. This made Jazz and Sound Track laugh, considering how amorous they knew Vanguard and Prowl were in private.

"Perhaps we will!" Replies Rodimus. He turns to see where Ratchet was and asks, "Is it ok Ratch'? To take her out of here?"

"Since when have you ever asked anyone's permission to do anything!" Jokes the Medic. "She'll be just fine, just behave yourselves you two!"

Everyone starts laughing.

Rodimus says, "I suppose you're right!" and with that he scoops up his wife and wanders off to their apartments with her in his arms being carried the whole way.

"You know?" He says, "You still need to lose soem weight!" Rodimus jokes.

"Oh shut it you!" Dark Angel replies.

*


End file.
